The Recovery Handbook

01Ice or heat

Cold for new and angry. Heat for old and stiff. That rule of thumb still holds — but the reason for it has changed, and most advice you will read online is a decade out of date.

So where does that leave ice?

Useful, but for a narrower job than you were told. Ice is good at making things hurt less. The evidence that it speeds actual tissue healing is weak and contested, and very aggressive cooling may work against you.

That is not a reason to throw the ice pack away. Pain relief without a pill is genuinely worth having, and if swelling is bad enough to stop you moving, bringing it down helps you start moving sooner — which is the part that does the healing.

• When: early, ideally in the first several hours after an injury. Later on it is comfort, not repair.
• How long: around 15–20 minutes, then leave at least an hour before doing it again.
• Never straight onto skin — always a barrier, or a gel pack designed for it.
• Do not use it as a reason to sit still. Protect the area, then get it gently moving as soon as you sensibly can.

The other thing worth knowing: anti-inflammatory painkillers may work against you in the same way ice does, for the same reason. Worth a word with a pharmacist or doctor rather than reaching for them by default.

Use heat when

• The problem is ongoing rather than new — more than 48–72 hours old.
• The area feels stiff or tight rather than swollen.
• You have general muscle soreness a day or two after training.
• You are warming up a chronically tight area before activity.
• You have a persistent stiff neck, lower back or shoulder.

Why it works: heat widens blood vessels, increases blood flow, and helps tissue relax and lengthen.

How long: 15–20 minutes. Comfortably warm, never hot enough to redden the skin.

Alternating the two

Contrast therapy can help with lingering stiffness once initial swelling has settled. A typical pattern is 3–4 minutes of heat, then 1 minute of cold, repeated a few times, finishing on cold. Do not use contrast therapy on a fresh injury.

02Using a massage gun

One of the simplest recovery tools to own, and one of the easiest to use badly. Most people either press far too hard or park it in one spot for far too long.

How long

• Per muscle group: 30 seconds to 2 minutes. That is enough.
• Whole session: 10 to 15 minutes across the whole body.
• One tight knot: up to 30 seconds, then move on. Grinding away at a trigger point for five minutes causes more soreness, not less.

Keep it moving slowly across the muscle rather than holding it still. Think of it as ironing a shirt, not drilling a hole.

How hard

Let the gun do the work. The motor generates the percussion — your job is only to guide it. Rest it against the muscle with light pressure and let it float. If your skin is blanching white, or you are bracing against the pressure, you are pushing too hard.

It should feel intense but never sharp. Discomfort is fine. Pain is a stop signal.

Before or after training

Rest days are perfectly fine, and often the most useful time to use one.

Which head for which job

A simple ten-minute routine

1. Calves — 1 minute each
2. Quads — 1 minute each
3. Hamstrings — 1 minute each
4. Glutes — 1 minute each
5. Upper back and shoulders — 1 minute each side, staying off the spine

Breathe normally throughout. If you find yourself holding your breath, ease off.

03Massage gun or foam roller

Both work on soft tissue. Both help with tightness and next-day soreness. They apply force in completely different ways, and that difference decides which one belongs in your bag.

A foam roller uses your own bodyweight to apply broad, sustained pressure across a large area. A massage gun uses a motor to deliver fast, targeted percussion to a small one. Broad and slow versus narrow and fast. That is the whole thing.

04Resistance bands

The cheapest way to build a home gym that actually works, and the easiest equipment to use wrongly.

Unlike a dumbbell, a band gets harder the further you stretch it. The hardest point of the movement is where you are most contracted — a genuinely useful training stimulus, and the reason band work feels different from weights.

Which tension to start with

• New to training, or rehab: the lightest band alone.
• Upper body pushing and pulling: light to medium.
• Legs and glutes: go heavier than feels intuitive. Those muscles are strong.
• Assisted pull-ups: the heaviest tension you have.

The right tension lets you complete 10–15 controlled reps where the last two or three are genuinely hard. If you can do 25 easily, add a band. If you cannot reach 8 with good form, drop one.

Eight exercises that cover the whole body

1. Chest press — band behind your back, press forward.
2. Seated row — band around your feet, pull to your ribs.
3. Overhead press — stand on the band, press overhead.
4. Bicep curl — stand on the band, curl up.
5. Tricep extension — anchor overhead or behind your head.
6. Squat — stand on the band, handles at your shoulders.
7. Romanian deadlift — stand on the band, hinge at the hips.
8. Lateral walk — band around your thighs, step sideways.

Three sets of twelve on four of these, three times a week, is a complete beginner programme.

05Where none of this belongs

This section matters more than any technique in the rest of the handbook.

Never use a massage gun or roller on

• Bone or joints — kneecaps, elbows, the spine itself, hips, ankles.
• The neck and throat — avoid the front and sides entirely.
• The head or face.
• An injury — sprains, strains, breaks, open wounds, bruises, or recent surgery.
• Varicose veins, or anywhere at all if you have a clotting disorder or take blood thinners.

Speak to a doctor first if you

• Are pregnant
• Have osteoporosis, a pacemaker, or nerve damage
• Have any circulatory condition, or diabetes
• Are recovering from a recent injury or operation